US933247A - Method of and apparatus for pumping fluids. - Google Patents

Description

0. o. eosmz. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PUMPING FLUIDS.

APPLIGATION FILED DBO. 7,1907.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

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UNITED sATEs PATEN FFEQ.

OSCAR C. GOERIZ, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD ornnn APPARATUS Eon PUMPING- FLUIDS;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

Application filed December 7, 1907. Serial No. 405,493.

,of andf'apparatus for pumping into common discharge outlet water or other fluid drawn from a plurality of sources which are so located or' arranged that the fluid from some of the sources is supplied to the pumpmg apparatus under pressure dilf'erent'from that under which the fluid from other sources is delivered to it.

The object of the invention is, broadly speaking, to provide amethod of andappa- 'ratus for so pumping the fluid that the pumpingv operation may be readily carried out with-simple, compact, and compactly. ar-

ranged apparatus and without a material loss in the potential energy which is contamed 1n the fluid passing to the pump by reason of the pressure under which it isde livered to the pumping apparatus.

The invention is particularly adapted for use 1- n pumping water from the various levels of amine arranged one above another to a common discharge level located above the levels at which the water to be pumped collects. i i

I In pumping'from the various levels of a mine the pumping operation is carried out at a common pumping level located below all "or all but the lower one of the various supply levels from which the water pumped is directly drawn, and the water from each supply level above the pumping level is allowed to flow down to the pumping level and is there added to the water from the supply levels below it after the pressure of the water from the latter levels has been raised to an equality with that due tothe effective head of the water coming from said upper supply level, the pressure of the water from all the supply levels being finally raised to such a-point that the water will flow from the pumping level to the'discharge level. I

The pumping apparatus. employed comprises a multi-stage pump in which the various pumping chambers may or may not be inv a single mechanical structure in, thepreferred form of apparatus for carrying out the invention a multi-stage centrifugal pump is employed, as such a pump permits of a ready control of the proportions of the Water pumped from the dilferent levels without materially interfering with the efficiency or operation of the pump. Instead of employing a centrifugal pump, however, there may well be employed in some cases a multistage pump of the kind in which there are a plurality of pumping chambers having progressively increasing discharge pressure, each chamber having its movable piston or plunger. In such a pump the various pistons or plungers are preferably connected to and are driven by a single shaft. While, as before stated, the invention is particularly adapted for use in pumping water from the different levels of mines where the dilferences in the supply levels naturally result in different supply pressures at the pumping level, it may also be well used with advantage wherever it is desired to pump into a common outlet and against a common head or pressure Water or other liquids supplied at different pressures, as, for instance, in fire fighting apparatus where high pressure and low pressure water mains are both available. I v

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out with particularity in the'claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated and described forms in which the inventionmay be embodied.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section showing a centrifugal pump employed for pumping water from different levels of a mine, and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic elevation of mine pumping apparatus and F are connected conduits H,

v respectively,

in which the pump employed is a multi- 5 level is located a centrifugal pump F, which may be operated by an electric or other motor. The rotating portion of the pump comprises a shaft (Jr having secured to it three impellers or rotating sets of blades G, G", and G The impellers Gr, it, and G discharge into the stationary outlet passages in, G", and G formed in the casing or stationary part of the pump F. The pump is provided with a low pressure inlet connection F leading to the impeller G, and with intermediate inlet passages F and F t which communicate with the passages Gr and G and therefore lead in effect to the inlet sides or impellers G ;and G The passage G leads to the outlet passage F of the pump. To the inlet passages F F5, and H respectively, leading from the water levels A, B, and C, respectively. A conduit l-l leads from the outlet passage of the pump to the discharge level E. Preferably, in each of the conduits H and H is located a non-return or check valve 1 arranged to prevent an upward flow of water through the conduits H and H Preferably, also, each of the pipes H and H has in it a throttle valve J. The conduit H is also provided ordinarily with a non-return valve I to prevent downwiird flow of water from the conduit, and with a manually controlled throttle valve J. A throttle valve may also be located with advantage under some circumstances in the supply conduit H.

In operation, the Water passing to the inlet sides of the impellers G, G and Gr is discharged into the passages G", G and G respectively under a pressure which exceeds that at which it is received by an amount corresponding to the potential energy put into the water by the impellers. The pump impellers should, of course, be of a proper size and form and should be run at the proper speed for efiicient operation under the conditions of use. Sat-- isfactory operation of pumping apparatus of the type disclosed in Fig. 1 can be had, however, under widely varying conditions on account of the inherent self regulating qualities of the apparatus. The pres sure of. the water entering the pump from conduit H through the inlet F for in- .when the outlet. F is closed.

stance, must be equal to the pressure oi: the water at the adjacent portion of thepump passage G". The pressure ol the water entering the pump through port h is that due to what l may call the eli'ectire head of the water in the conduit ll). This effective head is equal to the static head loss the loss in head due to the friction. This loss of head due to friction is not constant. but depends upon the rate of liow through the conduitl-l, increasing to a maximum when the outlet- F is unrestricted. and decreasing to zero In a centrifugal pump the prcssure of the water delivered by an impeller running at a constant speed is not constant, but decreases as the volume of water delivered by the impeller increases, though not in direct ratio. As a result of this characteristic regulation, water will pass, for instance, to the impeller G from the inlet port F and from the impeller G so long, on theone hand, as the maxinnun pressure imparted to the water by the impeller Gr does not exactly equal or exceed the static head due to the difference between levels B and D, and, on the other hand, so long the pressure of the water delivered by the in'ipeller G" does not fall below the pressure corresponding to the static head less the maximum friction loss of head in the conduit H The ratio of the volume of water passing to impeller G from the impeller G can be varied by varying the discharge of the impeller G- or by varying the effective head of water passing into the pump through port. F. The latter method of variation can be readily had through the operation of the throttle valve J in the conduit l-P, as the etlect of opening and closing this valve is within quite wide limits exactly the same as decreasing or in-" creasing respectively the frictional resistance of the conduitjto the flow of water through it. It will thus be seen that by adjusting the various throttle valves J the relative amounts of Water pumped from the different sources can be varied without otherwise altering the operation of the pumpingapparatus. Under special conditions, as where it is desirable to draw relatively large amounts of water continuously from the levels B and C, it may be desirable to make the impellers G, Gr and Gr of progressively increasing capacities. Where, however, as is frequently the case, the supply from the upper levels is intermittent the impellers may well be made all of the same size, as when so made the pump will operate with reasonable etticiency even though a'large proportion of the water pumped is drawn through the ports F and F At times some or all but one of the valves J in pipes H, H or H may be closed, altogether.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 1 is capable of operation in ways dilfering from that described above. For instance, in a fire protection, at one of the levels, say C, a reservoir may be located to be filled from level A, the valves J in conduits Hi and being then closed, In case of fire, by closing conduit H and opening conduit H the water could be pumped from level C to level E' K, K and K, each having a piston, theconnecting rods K of which are coupled to and driven by the common shaft L. In this form, the outlets of the low pressure and in termediate chambers K and K are connected to air regulating pressure chambers or reservoirs M, M and the inlet sides of the chambers K and K are connected to the reservoirs M and M respectively. In this form of my invention where the pumping pistons all make the same number of strokes of equal length it is essential that the chambers K K and K should be of progressively increasing capacities, thatis, the pistons should be of progressively increasing diameters, since a pump of this kind does not have the capacity for automatic regulation of output characterizing a centrifugal pump. Instead of varying thediameters of. the pistons, the length of stroke or speed of f ioke of the dilterent pistons may be adjus'' -ed to give the desired result. In consequence of this difit'erence in the regulating characteristics of the two pumps, the centrifugal pump should be used in. preference to the other where the conditions make it desirable to vary from timeto time the relative volumes of fluid pumped which are drawn from the sources of difi'erent pres-.

sures.

The advantages of employing a single apparatus for pumping a fluid from supply sources of dilferent pressures which characterize the present invention are obvious.

For one thing it reduces the cost of the ap-- parat-us employed, as one large pump and its operatnig motor cost less of course than a plurality of smaller pumps and motors. Moreover, the attendance is reduced with the single apparatus from what it would with the plurality of smaller devices.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and ters' Patent isz' I .1. The method of pumping fluid drawn from fluid sources of difierent pressures .which consists in adding the fluid from each desire to secure by Lethigh pressure source without material loss of pressure to, the fluid from the lower pressure source or sources after bringing the lating pressure stage.

ter up to a pressure equal to the pressure at which the fluid from the high pressure source is added.

2. The method of pumping liquid supplied from sources of dillorent pressures which consists in adding the liquid from each supply source of relatively high pressure without material loss ofpressure to the liquid drawn from the source or sources of lower pressure after bringing up the pressure of the latter liquid to an equality with the pressure at which the liquid from said relatively high pressure source is added, and then further'increasing the pressure of all the'liquid received up to that point to the effective pressure at which the liquid from the source, if any, of next higher pressure is added or to the discharge pressure.

3; The method ofpumpingliquid drawn from sources of supply located at'ditferent levels to a discharge level located above all the supply levels, which consists in brin ing all the liquids pumped to a pumping fevel located below some of the supply levels and in adding atthe pumping level the liquid drawn from each sup ly level located above the pumping level tot e liquid brought from all the lower supply levels after bringing the pressure of the latter li'quid up to an equality with the effective pressure at which to flow from the pumping level to the dis charge level in such successive stages that for each supply level located above the um in level there isa ressure sta ee ual P p a fp g q to the effective head i o thefluid brought from that supply level, and adding the fluid brought from each upper supply level to the fluid from the lower levels at the correspond- 5. 'The combination of a multi-stage pump and connections for supplying liquid to the pump at the outlet side of a' low pressure stage of the pump at a pressure'equal to the pressure of the liquid delivered from said stageinto the following or succeeding stage. 6. In a pumping system for pumping llquid from the diilerent levels of a mine to a common discharge level located above the supply levels, the combination of a multi-' stage pump at a pumping level located below some of the supply levels,a'nd conduits connecting each of the upper supplylevels in progressive order to the outlet sldes of various corresponding stages of the pump.

uid from the different levels of a. mine to a i common discharge level located above the 1 supply levels, a multi-stuge centrifugal pump at a pumping level located below some of the supply levels, conduits connecting each of the upper supply levels in progressive order to the outlet sides of the various pump stages, and means for throttling the flow of liquid through said conduits to vary 10 the amounts of water drawn from the clrtterf ent sources.

OSCAR C. GOERTZ. \Vit messes:

11 1mm" R. Russ Ronmrr Cnmsrm.

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